Automatic occupancy and temperature control for ceiling fan operation

ABSTRACT

Ceiling fan operation control for turning the fan on and off based on a passive infrared sensor, combined with a temperature sensor to regulate, the speed of the fan. The passive infrared sensor, the temperature sensor and controls for both are in a housing directly mounted to the fan motor of the ceiling fan. Me controls can be set screws covered by a removable cap. The passive if sensor can include a fresnal lens for sensing a 360 degree circumference beneath the fan, and a photo-optical sensor such as a photocell, which suspends ceiling fan control changes for allowing the fan to continue operation when the room is dark and occupants may be sleeping.

This is a Divisional of Application Ser. No. 09/415,883 now U.S. Pat.No. 6,189,799 filed Oct. 8, 1999 which is a divisional of Ser. No.09/067,236 filed Apr. 27, 1998, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,898.

This invention relates to ceiling fan controls, and in particular to anautomatic occupancy and temperature control for ceiling fan operations.This application is a Continuation-In-Part of U.S. Patent applicationSer. No. 9,056,428, filed on Apr. 7, 1998, U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,541entitled: High Efficiency Ceiling Fan, by the same assignee.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART

Overhead ceiling fans have become very popular over in recent years.Problems have developed as to the operations of the fans. For example,traditional fans are often left on when occupants leave rooms withoverhead ceiling fans. Thus, the fans can consume unnecessary power inunoccupied rooms. Another problem occurs when newly arriving occupantsto new rooms and/or to darkened rooms have to search for hard to findwall toggle switches and/or overhanging chains to turn on the ceilingfans. Warm and/or stuffy rooms can be very uncomfortable to newlyarriving occupants, who would have to wait for the rooms to cool downand circulate airflow. Further, turning on and off several fans in ahome or building is often so inconvenient that fans are left on.

In prior art searches several patents were cited as of general interestin the art, but still fall to overcome the problems cited above.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,632 to Hart et al. describes a “remote loadselector”, title, that allows for both a ceiling fan motor and abuilt-in light fixture to be selectively controlled from a singletwo-conductor hardwire cable connection.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,458 to Fukuda et al. describes an “air conditioningapparatus”, title, that senses temperatures via an infrared sensor tovary the air conditioner air flow pattern rather than to modify the fanmotor speed of a ceiling fan.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,409 to Hart et al. describes an “electricalappliance control system” which manually activates a ceiling fan from aremote controlled oudet.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,204 to Baldwin et al. describes a ceiling mountedpassive infrared intrusion detector with a dome shaped lens.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,722 to Clayto describes a Fresnel lens capable oftransmitting infra-red energy rays.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,213 to Teal describes a “ceiling fan electricallyheating environmental air” where the devices heats the air in a room byresistance heaters located on the fan blades, which are activated by athermostat.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,737 to Kirihata et aL describes a “person-numberdetecting system” for using inared sensors to detect the numbers ofpeople per room

U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,908 to Tung describes a “remote power control fordual loads” for supplying power to a ceiling fan and light kit.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,113 to Wang describes an “Infrared Receiver SystemFor A Remote Control Ceiling Fan”, title. The Wang devices describes anattachment device for positioning a infrared sensor beneath the fan forreceiving an i signals for a remote control ceiling fan.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,566 to Hu describes a shutoff circuit for a lightsensor controlled switch.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,472 to Hart et al. describes a “remote controlsystem for combined ceiling fan and light fixture”, title using a wallmounted thermostat to send radio signals to alter fan speed andenergization.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,393 to Hu describes a combination type sensor usingboth passive in ared(PIR) and ultrasonic sensing, as an automatic sensorcontrolled switch that can detect motion in a room to turn on or offlights, for instance.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,173 to Hu describes an occupancy sensor that sensesambient light levels to control the dimming of lights.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,273 to Chang describes a “ceiling fan and lightassembly control method”, title, using a sounding detector to turn onand off a ceiling fan and light kit

U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,943 to Chang describes a “single throw switchcircuit controlling a ceiling fan” that controls ceiling fan speed usinga manual switch.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,559,406 to Chang describes a “ceiling fan and lightassembly control circuit with remote controller/single-throw switchoptional controls” that uses an infrared remote sending unit to send asignal to a receiving unit.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,527 to Mehta describes a “thermostaticallycontrolled remote control for a ceiling fan and light” using householdwiring to send signals to alter fan speed

U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,040 to Kim et al. describes an “infrared objectdetector” that uses an infrared sensor to detect the distance betweenpersons and an air conditioner to adjust air conditioner fan speed andbaffled air direction.

None of the cited patents adequately and sufficiently overcome theproblems previously described above, particularly the problem of ceilingfans being inadvertently left on for long periods of time when no one ispresent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The first objective of the present invention is to provide a ceiling fancontrol system using an infrared sensor to detect room occupants to turnthe fan on and off.

The second object of this invention is to provide a ceiling fan systemto sense room temperature in order to vary the speed(revolutions perminute(rpm)) of the ceiling fan.

The third object of this invention is to provide a ceiling fan systemcontrol for on and off operation and speed control which is directlyattached to the ceiling fan housing.

The fourth object of this invention is to provide a ceiling fan system,particularly the problem of ceiling fans that eliminates inadvertentlyleaving the fans on for long periods of time when no one is present.

The fifth object of this invention is to provide a ceiling fan controlsystem that can sense occupants across a wide 360 degree field foroperating the fan.

The sixth object of this invention is to provide a ceiling fan controlsystem that can suspend motion control during hours of darkness whenoccupants are sleeping.

A preferred embodiment of the invention includes a housing that mountsonto a ceiling fan itself generally in the location of where lights canbe attached to the motor housing. The housing includes an infraredpassive(PIR) sensor and adjustable control for turning the fan on andoff based on motion of person(s) approaching and leaving a selected areabeneath the fan, a time delay potentometer and adjustable control forturning the fan off after a preselected period when no motion is sensed,and temperature sensor and adjustable controls for varying speed of thefan based on preselected temperatures. A photocell on the housing senseslight to allow the fan to operate when the area beneath the fan is dark.A removable cap covers the controls for high and low temperaturesettings and time settings for operation. The cap cover has a fresnellens that covers the PIR sensor underneath, and a temperature sensorprotrudes from a slot in the cover.

With the cap off, a Phillips head screw driver can be used to set thetemperature and time settings with the cap cover off. A firsttemperature setting screw can turn the fan off when sensed temperatureis below a first preselected temperature. A second temperature settingscrew having a second preselected temperature greater than the firstpreselected temperature, can be used to turn the fan on to a firstrotation speed when the sensed temperature is between the firstpreselected setting and a halfway point to the second preselectedsetting. With the temperature setting screws, the fan turns to a secondrotation speed when the sensed temperature is greater than the halfwaypoint to the second preselected setting, and the fan turns to a thirdrotation speed when the sensed temperature is greater than the secondpreselected setting. On the fan the third rotation speed of the movingblades is greater than the second rotation speed which is greater thanthe first speed.

For the control of ceiling fans it is advantageous to achieve differentattributes for an occupancy based control. Additional benefits of thesubject invention are the ability to sense occupants across a wide 360degree field, the ability to suspend motion control during hours ofdarkness when occupants are sleeping, and the ability to automaticallyvary ceiling fan speed with the room air temperature. Ultrasonic typeoccupancy sensors are not appropriate since ceiling fan motion wouldinduce false triggering of the device. Automatic controls which can dimlights in response to available daylight are not appropriate to ceilingfan control since motor speeds should ideally be altered in response totemperature rather than ambient light.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent fromthe following detailed description of a presently preferred embodimentwhich is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the overall operation of the novel ceiling fancontrol system.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the fan control with an occupancy-onlybased control unit, that turns the fan on/off with respect to sensedoccupancy, but does not alter a manually set fan speed.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic circuit of the occupancy sensing portion of thecontrol system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the fan control with both occupancy andtemperature based fan motor speed control, which will turn the fan onand off based on sensed occupancy and will alter the fan motor'soperating speed based on sensed temperature.

FIG. 5 is a schematic circuit of the thermal condition speed controlportion of the fan control system of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows a preferred embodiment of using the ceiling fan controlsystem with an overhead ceiling fan.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side view showing the components of the previousfigures mounted into a housing 700 that attaches to a motor housing of aceiling fan shown in FIG. 6 with the controls mounted therein forsetting temperature, time, and occupancy.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention indetail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in itsapplication to the details of the particular arrangement shown since theinvention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology usedherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

The novel ceiling fan control system of the subject invention was testedat the Florida Solar Energy Center®(FSEC®). FIG. 1 is a flow chart ofthe overall operation of the novel ceiling fan control system.

A preferred operation of the novel ceiling fan control is described inthe flow chart shown in FIG. 1, which gives an overview of the functionof the schematics shown in greater detail in reference to FIGS. 2-5. Thecontrol system sequence begins to operate when electrical power isapplied to the novel control 100. The passive infrared (PIR) sensingdetector immediately begins to scan through a 360 degree compoundfresnel lens. The Detector senses movement within its field of view atstate 101, it checks to see if a manual override has been set or thecontrol does not sense thermal conditions 102. If the PIR sensors doesnot detect movement, it checks to see if the set time delay is expired103. If the time delay has expired, the control switches off the fanmotor 104. If, the time delay has not expired, the control checks to seeif manual override has been set or the control unit does not includetemperature based speed control 102 (the invention can be used and onlymanufactured with an occupancy-based control and without a temperaturebased control). If the override is specified or the unit is an occupancysensing only model, it maintains the current ceiling fan speed at state105. If manual override is not set (or the control unit does not includetemperature based speed control), the control checks to see if the roomtemperature is below the minimum setting 106. If room temperature isbelow the setting, the control deactivates the fan motor 104. Otherwise,the control checks to see if the temperature is greater than the lowsetting and less than the mid-point between the high and low setting atstate 107. If this is true, the control sets the fan speed to low speed108. If the temperature is equal to or greater than the mid point of theset range, the control determines whether the temperature is less thanthe high temperature set 109. If it is not, the control sets the fanmotor to medium speed 110. If the temperature is grear than the highspeed value, the fan is set to high speed at state 111. The entiresequence of FIG. 1 is repeated as long as the fan control is powered.

The ceiling fan control system is generally illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4with a detailed description of the circuit schematics shown anddescribed in reference to FIGS. 3 and 5.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the fan control with an occupancy-onlybased control unit, that turns the fan on and off with respect to sensedoccupancy, but does not alter a manually set fan speed. AC power 201such as that coming from a 120 volt wall power supply provideselectricity to a DC conversion circuit 202. The power conversion circuit202 energizes the passive infrared sensing detector 203. Based on thestate of the occupancy sensing, and the set time delay(for example,approximately 15 seconds to approximately 30 minutes), a signal isprovided to a relay control circuit 204. The control of the time setdelay will be described in greater detail in reference. to FIG. 7. Whenoccupancy is sensed or a time delay from a previous sensing has notexpired, the relay completes a switch 205 providing power to the ceilingfan motor 206.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic circuit of the occupancy sensing portion of thecontrol system.

The present invention depicts a shutoff control for a sensor controlledswitching apparatus designed specifically to control ceiling fans. 120volts of AC power 301 comes into the power supply and is transformed andregulated using regulators D3 and U2 to provide 24 volts 302 and 6 volts303 DC out. All grounds through-out the diagram (upside down open arrow)are tied to the power supply ground 304. Power is provided 305 to thebiasing network 306 which includes capacitors C1 to C4 and Resistors R1and R2. The passive infrared sensor Q1 307 provides its output to Ampl308 on U1, the Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) 309. Aphotocell (CDS1)310 senses light and provides output to VSS on the ASIC.An oscillator circuit 312 consisting of R8, C9 provides output to RC1 onthe ASIC to operate the circuit clock A trim potentiometer circuit VR2and R8 313 is used to allow adjustment of the PIR sensing time delay.This is an innovation in the circuit to reduce the cost. Thus, thesensitivity adjustment circuits that were required on Prior art U.S.Pat. No. 4,820,938 to Mix et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,124,566 to Hu, havebeen eliminated in interest of inexpensive manufacture. Manual overrideof PIR control is provided by a switch 314. An amplifier circuit 315consisting of C10, C11 and Resistors R7 provide signal conditioning asselections from the trim adjustments and switches feed into the ASICboard. This integrated circuit 309 processes the various signals andswitch selections to determine the status of the Motion Control Output(MCO) 316 which consists of a relay 317 which urns on and off the fanmotor 318 based on conditions of using the occupancy sensing-and thetime delay. Q5 and R6 315 energize the relay coil to turn on and off thefan. A unique feature is that if the photocell 310 senses light, it willallow the occupancy output to be altered; without light it will notalter its final state until light is again sensed. This prevents the fanfrom being turned off in bedrooms while motionless occupants aresleeping. Other innovations in the circuit includes changes to the powersupply 302-304, so that AC power can be used which reduce its size andcost of manufacture, deletion of LED test output and substitution of atrim potentiometer for dip switches all configured to reduce the size ofcomponents to fit on a ceiling fan control housing and to reduce thecost of manufacturing.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the fan control with both occupancy andtemperature based fan motor speed control, which will turn the fan onand off based on sensed occupancy and will alter the fan motor'soperating speed based on sensed temperature. 120 Volt AC power 401provides electricity to a DC conversion circuit 402. The powerconversion module energizes the passive infrared sensing mechanism 403.Based on the state of the occupancy sensing, and the set time delay, asignal is provided to the motor control circuit 404. Occupancy sensingcan be activated or turned off using a two-position override toggle typeswitch and the time delay can be set with a Phillips head screwdriver,both of which are shown and described in greater detail in reference toFIG. 7.

Referring to FIG. 4, when occupancy is sensed or the time delay fromprevious sensing has not expired and sensed temperature is greater thanthe lower limit set, the motor control circuit 404 provides power to theceiling fan motor 405 and adjusts fan speed based on sensed temperatureconditions which are shown and described in more detail in reference toFIG. 7.

FIG. 5 is a schematic circuit of the thermal condition speed controlportion of the fan control system. The armature winding (L1, 501) andthe field winding (L2, 502) of the fan motor(405FIG. 4) are eachconnected to the AC line (Neutral 503). The other side of L1 isconnected to capacitor C4 504. The other side of C4 connects to one sideof L2 noted as Node A The line voltage is connected to Node A through C5505 when relay K1 506 is energized. Positive 507 is connected to Node Athrough parallel combination of C1 508 and C6 509 when K2 510 isenergized. Positive is connected to Node A directly when K3 511 isenergized. Relays K1 506, K2 510 and K3 511 are enabled by the occupancysensor control circuit (see FIGS. 2 and 3) when occupancy is detected Asolid state temperature sensing semi-conductor S18 reads the airtemperature just outside the control surface. None of the relays (K1506, K2 510, K3 511) are energized except for 512, if the temperature isless than 74° F. K1 506 is energized when the sensed temperature isgreater than or equal to 74° F. and less than 77° F. K2 510 is energizedif the temperature is greater than or equal to 77° F. and is less than80° F Relay K3 511 is energized if the sensed temperature is greaterthan 80° F. The large circuit shown as 513 provides an analogue todigital conversion for the temperature signal The trim potentiometer514, allows adjustment of the temperature control high setting, whileVR1 519, allows control of the low setting. The reference voltage forthe temperature sensor is supplied by R9 and D2 516, while VR3 515,allows calibration of the temperature reading. The solid state device Q2and resistor R6 520, enables the analogue to digital converter. Thelight sensing mechanism 521 allows suspensionof the control beingchanged during darkness. The unmarked remainder of the circuit isidentical to FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a preferred embodiment 600 of using the ceiling fan controlsystem 700 with an overhead ceiling fan 610 motor and fan blades,wherein sensed occupants 650 can operate the fan and temperatures can beused to activate and deactivate fan operation.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side view showing the components of the previousfigures mounted into a housing 700 that attaches to a motor housing of aceiling fan shown in FIG. 6 with the controls mounted therein forsetting temperature, time, and occupancy. The IR sensor 724 can be a PIRcell model no. RE200B manufactured by NICERA.

Referring to FIG. 7, the housing 750 holding the invention can beattached to an existing motor mount on a ceiling fan system that has alight kit attachment capability, such as but not limited to using araised ridge 755 with internal threads to mount the housing to the motor(610 shown in FIG. 6). The cap cover 710 which protrudes from the lowerpart of the housing 700 when mounted, has a fresnel lens 713 that coversthe PIR sender 724 underneath, and a slot/port 712 for allowing theelongated temperature sensor 722 to protrude therefrom. The cap cover710 can be attached to tie main housing 750 by fasteners such as but notlimited to mateable these 719, 729, respectively. The temperaturesetting can be accomplished by adjusting Phillips head screws 734 and736 which set the high and low temperatures for the invention. The highsetting 734 can be adjusted to turn the fan on, for example to 78degrees at which the fan blades will be set to rotate on. The lowtemperature setting 736 is the setting at which the fan will turn off,for example 70 degrees.

Referring to FIG. 7, the operation of the temperature set screws 734,736 will know be described. Set screw 734 determines the temperature atwhich the fan will be set to maximum speed. Turning set screw 734 to itsfully counterclockwise position sets the high temperature setting to itsmaximum 90F; setting screw 734 to fully clockwise sets it to its minimum75F. Set screw 736 determines the temperature at which the fan will beturned off. Turning set screw 736 determines the temperature at whichthe fan will be turned off. Turning set screw 736(low temperaturesetting) to its fully counterclockwise position sets the low temperaturesetting to its maxima of 75F. Setting screw 736 to its fully clockwiseposition sets it to its mininum of 68F. If the high speed mininum is setlower than the low speed maxima, the high speed setting take precedence.Markings about the screws 734, 736 can give the user direction as to thesetting temperature. Although, hash marks are shown in the FIG. 4, othertypes of markings can be used Referring to FIG. 7, occupancy sensing canbe activated or turned off using a two-position override toggle typeswitch 737. Slide switch 737 allows override of the control. Photocell738 allows the control change to be defeated and inoperable duringdarkness conditions in the room where the invention is being used

Referring to FIG. 7, the operation of time set potentiometer 732 willnow be described The time delay in the time set potentometer 732 can beset with a Phillips head screwdriver. Setting the time set 732 fullyclockwise will set the time delay at its mininum of 30 seconds. Settingthe time set fully clockwise will set the time delay at its maximum of30 minutes. Setting screw 732 allows the fan to be turned off afterpreselected delay times(i.e. 30 seconds to 30 minutes) when no motionhas been sensed by the invention.

Again referring to FIG. 7, invention 700 can be wire connected through aneutral wire 762, hot wire from the AC Output wire 764 and ControlledHot to Motor wire 766, which can be color coded, to existing matchingwires in the ceiling fan 610 shown in FIG. 6.

While the invention has been described, disclosed, illustrated and shownin various terms of certain embodiments or modifications which it haspresumed in practice, the scope of the invention is not intended to be,nor should it be deemed to be, limited thereby and such othermodifications or embodiments as may be suggested by the teachings hereinare particularly reserved especially as they fall within the breadth andscope of the clams here appended.

We claim:
 1. A ceiling fan control system for air circulating ceilingfans, comprising in combination: a ceiling fan attached to a ceiling;means for switching the ceiling fan to turn on and off; an occupancysensor directly connected to the fan for sensing under the fan; and acontrol means for controlling the occupancy sensor, wherein both theswitching means and the control means are directly connected to the fanso that a user can solely rely on the switching means and the controlmeans to operate the ceiling fan.
 2. The ceiling fan control system ofclaim 1, wherein the occupancy sensor includes: a temperature sensor. 3.The ceiling fan control system of claim 2, further including: atemperature setting control for operating the ceiling fan being directlyattached to the ceiling fan.
 4. The ceiling fan control system of claim1, wherein the occupancy sensor includes: an optical sensor.
 5. Theceiling fan control system of claim 1, wherein the occupancy sensorincludes: a non-ultrasonic sensor.
 6. The ceiling fan control system ofclaim 1, wherein the occupancy sensor includes: a 360 degree sensingrange.
 7. The ceiling fan control system of claim 1, wherein theoccupancy sensor includes: a motion sensor.
 8. The ceiling fan controlsystem of claim 1, wherein the control means includes: an on and offswitch.
 9. The ceiling fan control system of claim 1, wherein thecontrol means includes: a mechanical switch.
 10. A method of operatingceiling fans, comprising the steps of: installing a ceiling fan on aceiling; sensing an occupant under the ceiling fan to activate theceiling fan; activating the occupant sensing of the ceiling fan; andadjusting the ceiling fan to control the occupant sensing and theactivating of the occupant sensing by directly accessing the ceilingfan.
 11. The method of operating ceiling fans of claim 10, wherein thestep of adjusting further includes: controlling the adjusting on theceiling fan.
 12. The method of operating ceiling fans of claim 10,wherein the step of sensing the occupant includes: optical sensing ofthe occupant.
 13. The method of operating ceiling fans of claim 10,wherein the step of sensing the occupant includes: temperature sensingof the occupant.
 14. The method of operating ceiling fans of claim 10,wherein the step of sensing the occupant includes: approximate 360degree sensing for the occupant.
 15. The method of operating ceilingfans of claim 10, wherein the step of sensing the occupant includes:motion sensing of the occupant.